ORDER
WHEREAS, Openness, inclusivity, transparency, and public participation are critical components of our democracy; and
WHEREAS, The Rules of Order and Procedures ofthe City Council ofthe City of Chicago has never allowed for public comment at the monthly City Council meetings with public input and feedback being reserved only for committee meetings; and
WHEREAS, the recent lawsuit of Thayer & Garcia vs. Chicago City Council argues that the monthly City Council meetings violate the Illinois Open Meetings Act by not allowing for public comments; and
WHEREAS, A new court ruling of the Cook County Circuit Court states that by not allowing public comments at full City Council meetings and by preventing members of the general public from attending City Council meetings, the City of Chicago is in violation ofthe Illinois Open Meetings Act, and that public comment must be allowed at every monthly City Council meeting; and
WHEREAS, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Diane Joan Larson's ruling states "Public comment must be allowed at all public meetings"; and
WHEREAS, The Law Department of the City of Chicago is currently pursuing an appeal of the ruling and exercising all other legal options to continue to disallow public comment at the City Council meetings; and
WHEREAS, continuing to fight this court ruling will require fiirther litigation and court fees that will be paid for using public money, as well as time and other resources that our Law Department can instead be using for more important legal issues pertaining to the City of Chicago; and
WHEREAS, given the state ofthe City of Chicago's finances, pursuing an appeal of the Cook County Circuit Court ruling would be financially irresponsible to the taxpayers ofthe City of Chicago.
Now, therefore, it is ORDERED;
The Law Department of the City of Chicago, no longer pursue an appeal of the ruling made by the
